May 18, 2018
The “Waters of the U.S.” rule promulgated by the Obama Administration would be repealed in one of two spending bills approved by the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday.Despite opposition by Democrats, who attempted to remove all of what they called “poison pill” riders, the WOTUS repeal provision remained in the energy and water spending bill that cleared the committee. EPA is already working through the administrative process to rescind the rule and expects to publish a new proposed rule in August, according to the latest semi-annual regulatory agenda .The committee also approved a spending bill to fund the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration. The bill provides $550 million for rural broadband grants and loans, which is on top of $600 million in the omnibus spending bill approved by Congress in March.The committee also adopted amendments that would stop USDA from disallowing the use of potatoes in school breakfasts and subject genetically engineered salmon to the GMO labeling standard mandated by a 2016 bill.
